'Everyone ran, including me': What Brussels was like after the attacks

The scene just after explosions at Brussels Airport and Brussels city center.
Image: Rex Features via AP Images

Editors' note: Gavin Sheridan was on his way to Brussels airport for a flight this morning when two explosions went off. Returning to Schuman station, he found himself minutes from where a second attack was taking place. 

BRUSSELS — Bystanders this morning at Rue Stevin in Brussels were staring at their phones at 9:30 a.m. local time just 20 minutes after the explosion at the nearby Maelbeek metro station.

Most were commuters with nowhere to go, dressed in smart clothes and long coats.

This part of Brussels is the centre of the European Union bureaucracy, including the headquarters of the EU executive, the European Commission.

A young man and woman walked by. She was clearly in distress and in tears, shouting at her partner.

Moments later, clearly fearing something else was about to happen, Belgian police began running down Avenue Livingstone from Maelbeek, shouting “Allez, allez” towards both their colleagues at the cordon and to the local press, who turned and began to run down the street, cameras in hand. 

Other bystanders bolted towards nearby offices as local business people opened their doors.

The alarm apparently over, police established a new cordon — one further block down.

A clearly distressed commuter, with his partner holding his hand, shouted angrily at the assembled journalists: "You have no idea what happened down there. Bodies, everywhere!" 

Then he turned and stormed away.

Soldiers, who have been a very visible presence at all Brussels landmarks since the Paris attacks, were no longer wearing soft hats. They had instead switched to helmets. 

Police were trying to direct traffic out of the area, and closing down access to large parts of the city centre.

Within 30 minutes, the streets were empty, save only for pedestrians walking and the constant sound of sirens.

Gavin Sheridan is the CEO of Vizlegal and the former innovation director of Storyful. 
